February is Black History Month. For me, this is a time where I pause and reflect on the contributions of Black women who blazed a trail for me. As a young woman attending college in the late 1990s, I was one of only a few female biochemistry majors. Twenty years later, more than 50 percent of Ph.D.'s in the Biological Sciences are earned by women.1 It was the dedicated work of many female leaders that paved the road for access to advanced degrees, providing inspiration and mentorship and forging non-traditional career paths for women in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Medicine (STEM) fields.
Although we find ourselves amid a still-active COVID pandemic this February, there are reasons to be optimistic about our ongoing global health crisis. As a leader in Hygiene Sciences and Public Health at GOJO, my role is to provide continuing education and access to evidence-based infection prevention approaches for adoption in homes and across community settings. While tried-and-true practices like frequent washing and sanitization of hands and surfaces have been critical to reducing illness-causing germs over the last 18 months, they are only one tool in our toolbox. One of the game-changers that has emerged over the previous 12 months, helping us turn the COVID corner, has been the widespread availability of effective vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID.
While we may refer to the vaccines as Pfizer, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson, it's important to remember the scientists behind the vaccines, including Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett. Dr. Corbett, a microbiologist and immunologist, helped develop the Moderna vaccine. Dr. Corbett's team was responsible for conceptualizing and designing "mRNA-1273," the mRNA technology deployed in the Moderna vaccine. After its discovery, Dr. Corbett and her team rapidly deployed the technology to Moderna for an unprecedentedly fast Phase 1 clinical trial, beginning just 66 days from the release of the viral sequence. Moderna's technology was shown to be 94.1% effective against the SARS-CoV-2 virus and is authorized for use in multiple countries. As of January 15, 2022, Americans alone have received more than 200 million vaccine doses.2 At only 35 years of age, Dr. Corbett has already made an immeasurable impact on health at a global level. And she continues to pay it forward as an active advocate for women in STEM, leaving no doubt Dr. Corbett will continue to inspire countless others to pursue STEM careers and advance global health.